Chapter 4

Innocent as a Kitten

"What do you mean by that," Kitty asked hesitantly.

"Us girls need to stick together in this cruel world," Leah emphasized smiling; Kitty didn't buy it.

Her shoulders stiffened, and she crossed her arms, clutching the tote sling on her right arm with her left hand; she felt the older woman's gaze on her.

Leah smiled; she felt amused and glanced up and down at the younger woman's profile. She deduced that the young woman was tame.

Yes, boringly tame.

Leah discreetly judged Kitty's appearance; she wore a dirty white, loose-fitted round collar shirt with the sleeved folded and the hem tucked in a pair of mocha ankle pants. On her feet, she wore a dark blue knitted slip on's with what looked like the top of grey socks sticking out. Under her arm was a black tote bag with what looked like her belongings and the items she bought and stole from the grocery.

"Let's say we know each other for a while. Hmmm, let's say we are friends-"

"But we just met today." Kitty snapped.

The older lady giggled. "That could change, Leah-" she said, extending her right hand.

Kitty was hesitant. The older woman was beautiful. She could have been someone in media when she was younger; either way, she looked familiar, but Kitty couldn't tell where exactly. All she knew was she was suspicious.

Well, Leah dressed that way, wearing a trench coat and a pair of amber sunglasses on an afternoon. She looked as if she was skipping town or hiding from someone. One thing was sure; she was hiding something.

" I'm Kitty," she managed to say, shaking Leah's hand. In turn, Leah rewarded her with a sweet toothy grin, the kind that makes you smile back, and Kitty did.

---

As the two ladies got acquainted, outside, the sky was darkening. People outside could hear police sirens amidst the noise. It was unknown who exactly called them, maybe a concerned civilian, an annoyed car owner, or perhaps one grocery staff. Either way, the authorities were headed in their direction.

The people in the parking lot slowly left; some drove off or left the area, and others entered the shop. They were avoiding the two men beating each other in the lot.

The two, who were still throwing punches, were unaware and unmoved by what happened, continued to box.

"You... Son of a fucking bitch" John spat.

"Leah is mine to begin with and ever will be you fucking fag!" he continues kicking and punching Keanu against the side of a car.

John then yanks him and punches Keanu on the mouth, causing him to lose his balance and leaving him seated on a curb stop with a maddening bruise on the side of his mouth.

Keanu ran his tongue over his teeth; they were fine, but his cheeks were painful. Drool pooled in his mouth; he spat it out. It was blood.

Keanu pushed himself up and on his feet, panting heavily.

"She's my sister... You shit for brains"; he flexed his right arm backward, fist clenched, then released. It flew and hit John in the opposite direction, this time making his nose bleed. He loses his balance causing him to lean on a hood of a car. Both Keanu's and John's faces were slightly injured.

When the sound of sirens died, some listeners were concerned. Some of the shop's customers and employees watched through the glass windows. One or two passersby's stared from across the street.

Before they could add other bruises, two police officers soon spotted and tackled them. Both men were resisting, but they managed to pull them apart. Keanu's wrists were first to be bound. While one officer was busy with Keanu, John tried to run for it but was caught between two vehicles and cuffed behind his back. Keanu and John's hands were tied and pulled into the police cab.

"Leah, Leaahhhhhhh!" Keanu was screaming as the officer pushed him into the cab. With the handful of people watching, he saw her chatting with her back turned to him, she couldn't see him, but he knew she heard the police sirens.

"Sir, I repeat, you have the right to remain silent," a slim officer with a beer belly repeated sternly.

"Officer, I'm with my sister. She's still in the shop," Keanu blurted out. John was silently sitting awkwardly beside him; he said nothing but Keanu felt daggers behind his back.

Keanu reflected on how everything unraveled, from being wrongly accused to ending up behind a police cab with his wrists bound. Even though Keanu took a beating, he was lucky enough to secure the document he had been begging Leah to sign for a while now.

He safely handed it over to his driver and had him give it to Dina for safe sorting. He had the driver take off before his sister's crazed ex assaulted him. He held the front of his baseball cap and pushed it down to his temples, hoping that Katherine didn't see him.

The officer considered it, picked up his communicator, and chatted with someone, reporting the scene they encountered and tackled. He then was looking back and forth between Keanu and john, then back to Keanu.

"Can you point her out for us?" the officer asked with the communicator in hand, biting his lower lip.

"Certainly, officer, "Keanu said, wiping the blood from his lips with his handkerchief. The officer listened in on Keanu's brief description of his companion.

The officer politely shooed the few people who watched, like flies on exposed food—he then pulled a notepad from his utility belt and continued to listen to Keanu's description of what happened.

---

Leah was giving Kitty a toothy smile at that exact moment; a police officer approached them with seriousness written on his face. The older lady retracted her hand, causing the younger one to turn. As soon as Kitty turned, her heart jumped in her chest. Her face contorted in a mix of scared and surprise when she saw the officer.

Outside, Kitty gave off a calm expression inwardly; she went paranoid fast. She looks okay from the waist up but from her core down to her buckled legs said a different story.

"Oh shit. Oh shit, Oh shit!" Kitty thought to herself.

She began thinking of reasons why an officer would talk to them. Maybe the accountant gazed over the tv monitor hanging on the wall and saw her committing the act. Maybe Alvin, on the register, was the one who ratted her, out, or this woman Leah, the suspicious woman she just met, called them before talking to her. Whoever ratted her out, Kitty knew her skin was about to be fried.

"She is a kitty, a small innocent little kitten," Leah thought.

Leah turned to see Kitty shaking from her fingertips to her knees. She reached and held her palm, stroking it, hoping to lessen her worry. Kitty looked at her, and she could see Leah wink through her glasses.

"Good afternoon, ladies," the policeman said, pulling out to show his badge, under it read Edward Miller, Officer.

"Why hello, officer, how may we be of assistance" Leah cheered; Kitty was tongue-tied; she struggled to say anything, so she just smiled.

The officer put it back in his shirt pocket. "Sorry to intrude, madam, but if you weren't aware, two gentlemen had a brawl out by the parking lot."

"Oh God, I see," Leah said. Kitty nodded.

"One of them calls you his sister. Can you attest for him?" Officer Miller gave her a piercing look.

Leah looked out and saw Keanu seated hunched at the back of the cab. She also saw John and swallowed hard. "Yes," she then said, "That's my brother, officer."

Officer Miller had his communicator out and reported something to the person on the other end. He nodded and returned to Leah.

"Maam, we need you to drop by the station right away to process the report.", he said, then glanced to Kitty, "You too, ma'am."

"Okay, sir," Kitty managed to say.

"Oh, I'm sorry, officer," Leah began, "You see, I left my groceries inside by the checkout. Don't worry, I'll be right over, would that be alright?" she asked. Smiling, an irresistible smile, the same one she used on Kitty.

The officer blushed; he then checked his watch. It was 3:50 pm. "Uhm... O-okay that works", he said, struggling to talk for a moment.

"The station is two intersections away, in case you both get lost, I doubt it," he said, headed back to the vehicle. Both women followed him to the car.

---

The bound men saw them from the inside.

John started panicking, calling Leah to no end. The other policeman in the driver's seat started talking him into calming down. It didn't work, and the annoyed policeman tased and knocked him out. Leah saw his in the corner of her eye but ignored his antics. She was there conversing with the officer.

Meanwhile, Keanu was hiding his face under the cap and crouching down on the clothed back seat of the car. His jacket pocket began to vibrate; he was getting a call. He scrambled to get his phone and was relieved that the screen was in one piece. Dina was calling him.

"Hello, Ms. Lee? I sent the driver over. Did you get the contract" he said in a calm, authoritative voice.

"Yes, sir. I delegated it to Mr. Lewis. He's having it sent to the record's office as we speak," Dina said.

"Thank you, Dina. Make sure to lock up when you're both done working, okay? That'll be all" Keanu hangup.

Keanu was Looking around the inside of the car; later on, he found the police station's address. It was on a lowered sun visor on the passenger side of the vehicle. With his phone still on hand, he sent him the station's location to his chauffeur on where to pick him up.

When he then turned to put his phone back, he saw her, the person he's been dying to see again. It was Katherine Doe-Lewis.

She was behind her sister; he thought they might be friends or something like that. She was clamping her lips together with a severe expression on her face. Kitty turned to look at the car; Keanu turned away, hiding his face. He was flustered.

---

"Don't worry, officer, we'll be right over, "Leah said smiling.

From her hindsight, she could see John screaming and getting knocked out by the other official. Kitty seemed to be out of it but was still trembling. She gave her hand a little tug to keep her from wondering. Kitty jolted and was smiling with Leah at the officer.

The officer tipped his hat and entered the opposing door by the driver's side of the car. The engine started, and they drove off with the Keanu hiding his face and John still unconscious.

Kitty nearly fell to the hard concrete when the police car was out of view. She relaxed. Kitty followed Leah to her car. Leah's red Vitara was alone; her brother's BMW was nowhere in sight.

They were silent for a moment. Leah sucked in the air and started laughing. There wasn't any malice to it, just a bellyful of laughter.

"I can't believe that beer-bellied fucker fell for it," Leah wheezed.

"What do you mean? That was a public official; how can you lie to his face like that," Kitty said, genuinely disgusted.

"Oh, come on, lighten up. Aren't you glad we made it, Kitty?" Kitty rolled her eyes.

"To think you were this close to being cuffed yourself, "Leah giggled, gesturing with her index and thumb.

She was grappling with her bag for the zipper. When she found it, she grabbed her electronic car key and clicked it open. The car responded and unlocked itself. Leah then went to open her pack of bought cigarettes, gave it a little shake, and two came out. She offered it to Kitty.

"Sorry, I don't plan on smoking, but thanks," Kitty refused nicely.

Leah pushed back her amber shades above her forehead and pulled out a menthol tobacco stick with her mouth. She shook the other one to fall with the rest of the butts and shoved it back in her bag.

As Leah lit her stick, Kitty watched her honey-brown eyes burn brighter than the lighter's flame. Kitty concluded she was pretty that way. Her face exposed, high cheekbones, sharp, rounded eyes, slim triangular nose pulled together by plump plum-dyed lips pursed to release smoke from her mouth. Kitty turned to wonder if she'd be that pretty in ten years.

"Who was that" Kitty caught herself saying. Leah looked up to face her.

"Who," Leah echoed.

"That man in a hoodie," Kitty answered.

Leah sucked a mouthful of smoke and exhaled.

"He was my lover."